FALL RIVER — Prosecutors allege Michael Kostek twice punched his disabled 88-year-old mother in the face during an argument, and that he then threw her on a bed, where police found her dead Thursday afternoon in the family’s Somerset home.

When Somerset police officers, responding to a friend’s request to check on Kostek, 62, entered the house at 857 Wilbur Ave., they found him lying on his back, “rambling and not making any sense,” in his bedroom, which was littered with nine bottles of Jack Daniels and multiple containers of prescription pills, prosecutors said.

Kostek, wearing a hospital gown, appeared Friday morning in Fall River District Court, where he was arraigned on a single count of permitting injury to a disabled person. Judge Cindy Brackett agreed with prosecutors’ request to hold Kostek, who has a lengthy history of alcohol abuse and three prior drunken-driving offenses, on a $1 million cash bail.

Kostek, through his defense attorney, Frank Camera, denies killing his mother, Sophie Kostek, whom he lived with for several years.

Sophie Kostek’s death, and her son’s arrest, shocked the quiet suburban neighborhood of single-family homes on Wilbur Avenue. On Friday, a police cruiser kept vigil in the Kostek home’s driveway while crime scene investigators combed through the three-bedroom ranch-style home for evidence.

Neighbors said they never suspected anything unusual from the Kostek household. They described Michael as a quiet neighbor who kept to himself and who they occasionally saw mowing the lawn or waiting for an early-morning ride to work.

“This is shocking, really, really shocking,” said Al Corvelo, a neighbor who knew Sophie Kostek for more than 30 years. He described her as a “great lady” who took a bus to Fall River several times a week to socialize at a community center. Corvelo said she worked many years with other neighbors at Firestone in Fall River, and that she lived in the same house for more than 40 years. Her husband, Joe, died more than 20 years ago. Michael was their only son.

“She was alone. He took care of her. It was that kind of arrangement,” said Corvelo, whose daughter used to spend time at Sophie Kostek’s house when she was younger.

“Sophie was feisty, but in a good way,” Corvelo said.

Sharon Andrade, a resident who knew Sophie Kostek for 35 years, described her as “a very sweet woman” who kept a tidy home and never bothered her neighbors.

“Everybody should have a neighbor like Sophie because she was just a nice lady,” Andrade said. “I feel very bad about all this.”

According to Friday’s bail arguments, Michael Kostek had started drinking heavily after losing his job two and a half weeks ago. When first questioned by police, he said his mother had fallen down the basement stairs two days earlier, and that he had been caring for her. However, prosecutors said police found no evidence, such as blood stains on the stairs or basement floor, to back up that story.

Michael Kostek also had blood stains on his hands, and police officers said they noticed what appeared to be blood on his bed sheets, according to court documents.

After changing his story to say that his mother had fallen in the bathroom after her pushed her, Michael Kostek then told police that he had lost his temper and twice punched his mother during an argument over money and “other things.” He said he then lifted her up by arms and placed her in bed. He also said he was “ashamed” and that he should never have laid a hand on his mother, according to police reports.

Prosecutors said Sophie Kostek’s body was positioned as if she had been thrown on the bed, with her oxygen tank underneath her. She had visible swelling and bruising around her eyes, mouth, arms and legs.

The Somerset police officers who responded to the well-being check on Michael Kostek arrived at the house at 3:23 p.m. Thursday. Noticing a broken kitchen window, dried blood on the window frame, and hearing movement inside the house, Officer Gerard J. Guimond Jr. said he looked inside an open bedroom window and saw Sophie Kostek lying in bed, on her back, partially-clothed and unresponsive, according to court documents.

Michael Kostek told Somerset police officers that his mother’s injuries “may have bled for several days” and that she may have been dead for one day before police arrived at the house, according to court documents.

An autopsy is being conducted to determine Sophie Kostek’s cause of death. Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill, chief of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Unit, said additional charges may be filed against Michael Kostek, who officials said has a long history of alcohol and substance abuse, and mental illness. He has three prior drunken-driving arrests, for which he served jail time. He lost his driver’s license after his third drunken-driving arrest in January 2009. He has also been in and out of detox for several years. In 1995, Sophie Kostek took out a restraining order against him.

“It’s clear he has a very severe substance abuse problem, which goes back many years,” Camera said.

Kostek was hospitalized twice Thursday at Charlton Memorial Hospital for acute symptoms of alcoholism. While speaking with a court-appointed psychologist Friday, he displayed symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, including tremors. Kostek requested the court to section him for treatment, but Bracket said the Dartmouth House of Correction is “well-equipped” to have him go through detox.

Cahill said Kostek was also violent toward police officers, and alleged that he had to be restrained from attacking detectives who interviewed him. Somerset police reports also indicate that Kostek has a known history of being violent toward police. Camera, Kostek’s lawyer, said Friday that he had not previously heard about the alleged violence toward police, and he questioned why prosecutors had not charged him with those offenses.

Kostek is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 10 for a pretrial hearing.